Subcontractor scope of work template for UK construction projects

Choose a package that can be defined

Start with the result you intend to buy and the area it concerns. A named room, work zone or drawing boundary is more useful than asking someone to "help finish the project". The scope needs enough detail for a supplier to understand their contribution.

Enter the main contractor, subcontractor, Job, site and package reference. These fields distinguish the commercial relationship from the customer-facing project. Your customer may be buying a full refurbishment while the subcontractor supplies one part of it.

The example identifies a kitchen floor-tiling package with a drawing reference. Replace the example location and parties before use. A clear package reference also helps connect later questions and delivery evidence to the work you actually requested.

Name the information behind the scope

List the relevant drawings and specifications with their revision references. A supplier needs to know which information to use when pricing. A folder containing several plans is not itself a definition of the current package.

Separate checked quantities from assumptions. The example uses an illustrative 18 m² area and explicitly requires verification. Measure or obtain the appropriate basis for your own package rather than letting that sample quantity become an accidental instruction.

If an important decision remains open, establish whether the supplier can price a defined option or whether you need the answer first. A tile selection can affect the proposed work even when the room area stays unchanged. Keep that question visible in the preparation process.

Retain supporting detail with the package, but select it deliberately. The subcontractor needs the information relevant to their scope. Unrelated customer documents, private selling prices or office notes do not automatically belong in the work pack.

Complete the included-work table

Each row asks for an item, the offered result, quantity or basis and specification reference. Describe the work in a way that can be checked after delivery. Avoid a list of broad trade labels that leaves the actual finish to interpretation.

In the example, the first item concerns laying selected floor tiles to an identified area. A second item covers specified joints and interfaces. A third covers tidying and completion evidence. Those rows illustrate different parts of the package without pretending to provide a universal tiling specification.

Use the relevant assessed technical information for the actual task. The worksheet records the commercial scope; it does not establish a compliant method or replace competent review of substrate, materials or installation requirements.

Check the completed rows together. An inclusion can contradict an exclusion elsewhere in the document, or rely on an input nobody has undertaken to supply. Resolve that conflict before circulating the package for a price.

Use the interface matrix

An interface is a point where one party’s work or input meets another’s. The matrix has four columns: the item or boundary, the responsible party, the required input and the person confirming readiness. Use it to expose gaps between otherwise reasonable assumptions.

The example assigns tiles to the main contractor and associated materials to the subcontractor as specified in the final offer. That arrangement is one possible package. Your own scope may allocate both differently; the useful part is recording the actual choice.

The prepared work area is another interface. If preparation is outside the bought package, identify who arranges and reviews it before attendance. "Others to prepare" leaves too much open if no named person owns the input.

Give readiness a checkable basis and an owner. A delivery date is not proof that the selected materials arrived or that the area is ready. Record which confirmation needs to happen before the subcontractor relies on the proposed attendance plan.

State exclusions with their practical effect

An exclusion should explain which work is outside the offer. The sample excludes substrate preparation, wall tiling and redecoration. Those choices help define the bought package; they are not advice that such items should always sit with a particular party.

When excluded work is needed for the project, connect it to an interface or another package. Otherwise, an omission can remain invisible until someone arrives expecting the preceding work to be complete.

Check assumptions before treating the price as fixed for a known result. A defined package can still depend on quantities or specifications being confirmed. State the basis and obtain the missing information rather than using a fixed amount to conceal uncertainty.

Record price and programme as the supplier offer

Enter the subcontract package amount and its explicit tax basis. The example uses £1,650 before any applicable tax solely to illustrate the field. Review actual treatment and contract arrangements for your business and supply rather than copying the sample.

Keep this supplier price separate from the amount charged to your customer. They describe different agreements. A customer-facing Variation may change what you sell, while the subcontractor still needs their own offer or change reviewed.

Describe the attendance proposal, duration and dependencies. Two illustrative working days in the example are not a standard productivity rate. Obtain the supplier’s assessment of the defined scope and coordinate it with the project programme.

Use the appropriate reviewed subcontract terms for payment and other contractual matters. The worksheet asks for a reference instead of manufacturing universal clauses. A scope schedule helps identify the work but does not settle every contractual obligation.

Define the submission and review

Identify what evidence accompanies a completed package and who reviews it. That may involve selected photographs, records or a walk-through against the agreed scope. Choose the requirements before work starts so the supplier can prepare a useful submission.

Record an outstanding item with its location, the relevant scope requirement and requested correction. "Not good enough" is difficult to act on. A specific discrepancy gives the supplier a clear issue to address and the reviewer a basis for checking again.

Keep delivery approval distinct from supplier payment and the overall Job outcome. A reviewed package can be one part of unfinished customer work. Likewise, an agreed price and a completion submission do not themselves establish that money has been paid.

Check the package before requesting prices

Fill in one blank package and review every supplied input, exclusion and readiness responsibility. Replace bracketed fields and remove the completed example pages from the copy you issue. Keep an identifiable version with the information used to prepare it.

Ask prospective subcontractors to price and identify qualifications against the same scope. Review deviations before comparing totals. The aim is a package whose result and interfaces can be understood at quotation, attendance and delivery review.